No one drew it up quite like this.
The Tennessee Titans snagged the momentum from the beginning of the Saturday’s game against the Ravens, and never let it fully swing into Baltimore’s favor.
With the 28-12 win, the Titans will face either the Houston Texans or the Kansas City Chiefs next week in the AFC Championship.
Here’s a look at some quick observations we made throughout the contest in chronological order.
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– The Ravens won the toss and chose to defer, allowing quarterback Ryan Tannehill and the Titans offense the first go at it.
– Tennessee’s second play of the game of offense was a 15-yard reception by tight end MyCole Pruitt, a player who has flown under the radar but has made some notable plays this season.
– M&T Bank Stadium is one of the loudest venues in the NFL, and that showed as the Titans suffered the effects of a delay of game penalty on third down that brought up third-and-long. The Titans were left punting after the offense failed to convert.
– David Long started at inside linebacker in the place of an injured Jayon Brown.
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– Quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens were driving quickly and effectively, but he was intercepted by Titans safety Kevin Byard, who also came up with a 31-yard return.
– The Titans were set up deep in Baltimore territory, and a ended the drive with a one-handed touchdown catch from tight end Jonnu Smith to make it 7-0.
– The Tennessee defense stayed stout, denying the Ravens on 4th & 1. That marked the first time the Ravens had failed to convert on 4th & 1. The Titans offense wasted no time as Tannehill delivered a deep strike to Kalif Raymond to give Tennessee a 14-0 lead at the top of the second quarter that hardly anyone drew up.
– The Ravens finally got to the scoreboard with a 49-yard field goal from Justin Tucker with just under six minutes remaining in the first half, making it 14-3, Titans.
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– Marquise “Hollywood” Brown reeled in a one-handed catch to make it first & goal just seconds before the second quarter expired, settling for another field goal from Tucker.
– The Titans were first to the board in the second half with a Corey Davis touchdown reception after a huge rush from Henry. The touchdown pass to Davis was from Henry on a wildcat.
– It didn’t take long for the Titans long to get the back ball back, as Jackson was sacked and lost the ball. Tannehill took it in after a fake to Derrick Henry to cap off the next possession.
– Kenny Vaccaro had just one interception this season coming into the game, but increased that number as he picked off Jackson at the bottom of the third quarter.
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– The Ravens put their first touchdown on the board four minutes into the fourth quarter off the efforts of tight end Hayden Hurst, but were unsuccessful on the two-point conversion.
– Baltimore had one more real shot at getting back into the game on 4th & 5 with 4:27 left of game time, but Jackson’s pass was broken up by safety Dane Cruikshank.